Black Team Week #1 Challenge thread-

Tri_Dad

P.S. No, my boyfriend does not have an old man looking 'fro with a huge forehead. The wall hanging behind him has a giant tree in it.

Hahahahahahaha I was totally thinking when did he get all that hair? then I said eeeewwwwww she wouldn't date a guy like that!

I think it looks like Egyptian hair, like something you'd see on a painting. LOL!

I think he should rock that hair-do for realz.

It's awesome! Might start a trend!

retrobaby

I had a lot of reading to catch up on!

Donna- yes DH is still active duty. Coming up on 20 years in February. He got commissioned late in his career, so we have at least 4 more before we will consider retirement. I understand deployments only too well. We did 3 in 3 years, about 6 months home, 6 months gone, until the last one, it was 9 months gone. He’s been home since May, we were just talking last night when, not if, he’ll be headed out again.

Sam- hope you had fun dress shopping. I actually love shopping for dresses. They are so much easier to fit than pants!

Tanya- take some pictures of yourself! I know the feeling of not liking them, I never did before either. I still criticize them, but I’ve gotten better. I saw a picture of my backside when we were at Disney this year and surprised myself by saying it looked small. It’s hard to be alone with the kids and no husband around, yet I get how it’s easier to do it when they are gone. I face the same challenges. Not sure if anybody answered- Couch to 5K is a training program, you can do it anywhere, google it.

Jeannie- I just love you to death. I can’t imagine you laying around feeling sorry for yourself. You are so positive and encouraging and well…. Wonderful. I’m happy to say I know you! Be proud of how far you have come, even if those last 10 don’t want to go anywhere.

Shuntae- love you girl. So proud of how far you have come with your running. For real, I never could run the mile in school either! I remember the great feeling of accomplishment when I finally ran one. I can only imagine how you must have felt when you finished your half!

Amanda- your story is just as inspiring as the next, don’t sell yourself short

Jan- take it easy if you are sick. The worst thing you can do to your body is to push it, allow it to feel better. You will be exercising with the rest of us soon.

Roni- what a story! I knew part of it, but maybe not all of it. You are a survivor. I can’t even imagine. Skin cancer is scary, I have many of the risk factors, I check my skin all the stinking time! I’m so happy you beat it and have helped get your son healthy along the way.

Sam- proud of you girl. You’ve come so far.

Kati- I am so happy that you realized you are important. My kids were older until I got that. You are setting such a good example for them. Watch those elevators! LOL

Marla- isn’t it great to torture our children? Bwahaha! My 12 year old, Ian told me yesterday I was bugging him (he actually looked at me and goes, “You bug me”) when I made him take lunch to school. Cool! Doing my job. He doesn’t eat at school, won’t buy lunch, doesn’t like to pack one and it drives me bonkers. Then today I had on the Aeropostale sweatshirt I bought yesterday and it’s the same design as one of his tshirts. He was totally irritated. Haha! Can’t wait til he wears the shirt, I’m putting on that sweatshirt!

Bobbi- don’t hurt yourself out there walking!

Andrew- your story had me laughing out loud!

Also, like Andrew said, I came in late to this group, hung around, listened, got to know everybody, asked what they were talking about if I didn’t know and now I feel like I know each one of them and have known them for years. If you ask something and nobody answers, it's not because you are being ignored, chances are the question got missed, it happens when there are conversations happening, ask again! Great group. (Marla talk) Love ‘em to pieces.

Wonder how many caloires I burned responding to all the posts from today? Hopefully a lot, I had a 'heavy' dinner!

Thanks for the encouragement! I was so encouraged by everyone's post that it just inspired me to work out. I did end up exercising and was able to jog 3 miles and walk 1 mile on an incline under 1 hour. I burned close to 600 calories. I feel great!!! Go Black Team!

zippy111

For those that don't know me a little about me:

Hi I am Amanda. I was a size 4 in highschool, got pregnant with ds in June after I graduated. Gained from there and never went back down. My ds is 14, 15 in March and my dh (his father) and I have been married for 13 years. Dh and I do math like Andrew and Beth. We also have two dds, one is 9 and the other is 5. Our 5 year old is our little angel. All of our kids are great, IMO, but Emmy was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in April 2006. She is completely non-verbal, no hand function of any kind, walks but is losing that skill and soon I am afraid will be wheel-chair bound. She has seizures that are somewhat controlled with meds. Extreme anxiety, and while she is non-verbal, boy can she screamed. The worst of all this in my mind is that she knows exactly what is going on, but locked in her own body. Her laugh is priceless, her laugh makes the grumpiest person smile. She loves to "swim" in water and also loves watching the computer screen. She is the light of my life and my inspiritation. My dh is disabled due to a back and hip problems and so I realized real fast that Emmy is mine to take care of for the rest of my life or hers. I realized I needed to get healthy so I would be around a long time for her, but to be honest as my body is changing, I want my body back!

I homeschool my 9 year old and most days it is a battle but I know it is best for her. We are involved in church activities, also lots of 4-H activites. We have three mini Nigerian goats, geese, ducks, a rabbit, too many chickens to count, four cats as strays seem to know there is a "S" on my forehead and two big Golden lab dogs. I work 7 hours a week to pull some extra income and it gives me a nice break outside of the home.

Okay I wil shut up now! :laugh:

Amanda- Your home sounds like a great place to be. I assume you live on a farm?

retrobaby

Yeah, so in my long book I didn't put the before/after pics.


Spring/Summer 2002


December 31, 2009


P.S. No, my boyfriend does not have an old man looking 'fro with a huge forehead. The wall hanging behind him has a giant tree in it.

You look awesome! You looked great before too!

zippy111

Andrew and Beth- they are great pics no matter when they are from! I guess I'll do my story and mine.....

I'm Lori. Have 4 kids, both DH and I have 2 from previous marriages (not quite the Brady Bunch). 3 boys and 1 girl ranging in age from 14 to 9 1/2. It works well for us. All of them live with us full time. DH is in the Air Force, we are currently stationed in Florida, on the gulf coast in the panhandle.

I have my degree in Elementary Education, with Early Childhood as a minor and quite frankly, anymore, the idea of teaching (especially those little ones) makes me shudder. I'm sure I could do it if I had to, I'm sure I would get 'used to' it again, but I'm happy NOT being in the classroom with little munchins all day long. I laugh all the time because I did work, since I was 16 I always had a job. Then DH and I got married, his two kids came to live with us, we moved from my homestate of PA to MD and DH said "You don't have to work if you dont want to." Mistake. LOL The youngest was only 4, so not in school yet and I enjoyed my half a year with him before he went to kindergarten. I think maybe DH meant I didn't have to work then... I have never really gone back!

I started my weight loss journey in September '08. DH deployed, he was going to be gone for 9 months and I decided I wanted to lose 50 pounds while he was gone. I lost 47 by the time he came home in May. (Yes, I know what my ticker says now- we won't go there.)

I have never been and never will be 'tiny'. The only weight I can find from high school is 148 in 10th grade. I suspect by the time I graduated I was 160's, when I got married, 170's (or more), after my first baby high 190's or low 200's and stuck there for over 10 years.

I have learned a lot about myself through this journey. I had 'dieted' many times. I had lost weight, even up to 25 pounds, but I never kept it off. I never made life changes. I never embraced exercise like I have this time. This time it's different. I read alot. I try to stay informed. I pay attention to not only how much I eat, but what. I exercise reguarly and truly enjoy it. I think maybe when I grow up (:laugh: ) I would like to think about doing something in weight loss/exericse/nutrition. I think about it, but I'm not there yet. Mabye some day.

I still love the feeling when my kids see a picture of me before and say "That was you!?!" That will never get old. Of course they know what I used to look like, but they have forgotten.

Of course like most women (yes, I'm calling myself out) I want more. My original goal was 50 pounds, now it's 60. To start out I wanted to be toned, now I want muscles. In the beginning I was happy to walk for exercise, now I push for more! I distinctly remember when I wore a size 16 saying, "If I could just wear a 12 I'd be thrilled." I'm wearing a few 10's, mostly 8's but 6's would be cool.

I'm anal. I'm with Batman with the Type A crap. Trying to learn to relax a little with it. It can be good and bad, depends on how you use it I suppose. I have an obsessive/persistent personality, so when I do something, I like to do it full out to the best of my ability.

I took the true before pics. Front, side, back. They were horrifying. I wanted to cry when I saw the one of my backside, but I'm glad I took 'em. September '08. Yeah, I know, I look thrilled.


These are my latest pics, not much has changed (:grumble: ) since I took them, but I should do some recent ones. I believe I took them in November '09.

Lori - I love these pictures - What a great inspiration. The picture of the front is amazing how tone your shoulders and arms are! Mike is actually in the Delaware Air National Guard. He is a HS Math teacher in civilian life. He can retire now (and we have many discussions about it) but with a daughter getting ready to go to college and at his rank, it is hard to say no. I hope you have support where you are...and at least it is warm in FLA....well maybe not this week :noway: I really admire you taking care of four kids especially when DH is away. I don't know how single parents do it. They are the true heros. Donna

AmandaJ

For those that don't know me a little about me:

Hi I am Amanda. I was a size 4 in highschool, got pregnant with ds in June after I graduated. Gained from there and never went back down. My ds is 14, 15 in March and my dh (his father) and I have been married for 13 years. Dh and I do math like Andrew and Beth. We also have two dds, one is 9 and the other is 5. Our 5 year old is our little angel. All of our kids are great, IMO, but Emmy was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in April 2006. She is completely non-verbal, no hand function of any kind, walks but is losing that skill and soon I am afraid will be wheel-chair bound. She has seizures that are somewhat controlled with meds. Extreme anxiety, and while she is non-verbal, boy can she screamed. The worst of all this in my mind is that she knows exactly what is going on, but locked in her own body. Her laugh is priceless, her laugh makes the grumpiest person smile. She loves to "swim" in water and also loves watching the computer screen. She is the light of my life and my inspiritation. My dh is disabled due to a back and hip problems and so I realized real fast that Emmy is mine to take care of for the rest of my life or hers. I realized I needed to get healthy so I would be around a long time for her, but to be honest as my body is changing, I want my body back!

I homeschool my 9 year old and most days it is a battle but I know it is best for her. We are involved in church activities, also lots of 4-H activites. We have three mini Nigerian goats, geese, ducks, a rabbit, too many chickens to count, four cats as strays seem to know there is a "S" on my forehead and two big Golden lab dogs. I work 7 hours a week to pull some extra income and it gives me a nice break outside of the home.

Okay I wil shut up now! :laugh:

Amanda- Your home sounds like a great place to be. I assume you live on a farm?

:laugh: Actually no, we live on almost two acres which I have filled with animals much to dh's and ds's irritation. Dh actually enjoys the animals but would never admit it, but I find him out there feeding them grain or table scraps. I keep saying I am going to downsize but never do, they just keep coming. :laugh:

zippy111

Wow, I love reading all the stories and seeing all the before and after (and during) pics! Some of the stories are familiar to me, as some of us have come a long way together:drinker: , but I never tire of reading them. Always inspirational!! We can and HAVE overcome soooo much! Thanks to all who have shared their stories In following suit, I will try and share some of mine.

I was never overweight growing up, I was always the one who could eat anything and never have to worry about it (or so I thought). With my first pregnancy I gained somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 lbs. But it was ok, pregnant women are supposed to gain weight, right? Hmmmfff, not THAT MUCH weight. Over the next 5 yrs I was able to get some of it off (maybe around 50 lbs?) and then along came baby #2. Again, I gained alot with him, but not as much as I had with my first. Over the next year after he was born, I took off all the "baby weight" and then some. Actually got back down to amost pre-pregnancy weight. All was good.

I think I got the mentality back in my head that I could eat like I used to when I was a teenager and not worry about it...? Im not really sure what I was thinking or doing? But gradually over the next oh I would say 12 years...the weight started going up and kept going up. Before I knew what had happened I had went from around 165 to 335 lbs (my highest weight). I lived at that weight for probably about a year or two...? But that too was ok. Apparently in my mind it was ok, because during that time I was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma and told before my first surgery to make arrangements for my kids. Not just during recovery...forever. WHAT?? I couldnt grasp that. I couldnt accept that my kids were going to lose their mother to a cancer that I had never even heard of!!

Finally after around 7 years of battling the cancer, I decided that I was going to live. And not just live as I was with bad knees, barely able to walk because of my weight and unable to go to my sons football games without extreme pain of climbing the bleachers to watch him play...but LIVE. I decided that this cancer was not going to kill me, but I was basically killing myself. Doesnt make sense to battle so viciously for your life against a disease like cancer that you have no control over, but let something like obesity that I CAN control take my life!

Around the same time, I got the results from Alex's (my youngest son, he was 13 at the time) bloodwork from his doctor. His triglycerides (sp?) were at 237 (normal is around 129) . He was borderline of having diabetes. This was all weight related. I had to change the way we ate, and do it fast. Long story short, in one year Alex had lost 62 lbs and I had lost 130 lbs. All of Alexs blood work was repeated and ALL of his levels were in the normal range. YAY!! We had done it. But it wasnt over yet. This is a lifelong process and I am most proud of the fact that I am teaching my son good habits with eating and exercise and showing him by example now that being healthy is best!

He's still a teenager (15 on the 19th of this month), and he still wants McDonalds at times and I dont deny him those things. But his choices in what to eat have changed dramatically. He would take an apple or a banana or raw veggie any day over chips now. :drinker:

Ok, I think Im done.:blushing: If you made it this far...cheers to you!!:drinker:

~Roni

Roni - This one made me cry! Congratulations on all that you have overcome. We do only have one life to live and you are doing it girl! and I'm so proud of the choices you have made with your son. It has to be toughest when you are young and you have a sweet tooth. Yes, you don't want to deny them. it's very hard to change the behavior. Kudos to you. I look forward to continuing this journey! Donna

AmandaJ

Okay, I just found the coolest pic of me. It was taken last December at my starting weight in my underclothes. I can't believe the size of my stomach, it makes me realize I have came a long ways baby. Even though I am in my underwear when I get to my goal weight I am going to post that pic with a new pic in regular clothes. Embarassed I will be, but it symbolizes breaking free of my unhealthy life. Here is to a healthy life for us all!! :drinker:

zippy111

My story is a little like shuntae's. I was always the bigger kid not fat but big. I started playing soccer at the age of 4 so when I got into high school I was bigger then most of the girls muscles wise. I ate what I wanted and knew that I would just burn it off. I would run with the team but could never keep up when we had to do our mile runs. Over time I slowly gained and when I met my husband I was 173 that was in sept of '03. we married in july of '05 I was 185 and when we got preggo with our first daughter I was 193 I never stopped gaining from there. We got preggo with our second daughter and I weighed 203. I gained about 30 pounds with both. When I had our second daughter everyone said I would lose weight if I breast feed her and I knew I wanted to try but that didn't work for me in the next month I gained and when BF didn't work for either of us I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 230 pounds.

When I knew that things HAD to change I saw a picture that was taken when my father was here and I couldn't believe how terrible I looked. I was on another website(cafemom) and some lady talked about how they loved this site (MFP) so I checked it out. that was October of '08. I couldn't believe how easy the weight was coming off. I counted calories religiously and started very slow on the treadmill. (I mean SLOW) 3.5 miles an hour was almost to fast for me and I was WALKING!!! when I got to around 200 pounds I started jogging and have never looked back.

Dec. of '08 I started a thread for the up coming BL and had teams and challenges. There was something about every single one of my black teammates that made me think that we could all help each other out when we needed it the most. team members have gone some new ones joined (glad you did) and some that left have come back! We all have been slapped when we needed it, hugged when we needed it but, most of all we all encouraged each other to keep going.

THANK YOU ALL FOR HELPING ME GET TO WITHIN GRABBING REACH OF MY GOAL!!!!!!

here are my pics.
me right after the birth of my 2nd baby

when I decided to lose weight

at a size 14

and today in a 12

Samantha - you look great! Keep it up!

zippy111

Wow. Pass the kleenex. What inspirational and amazing people we have here.

My name is Kati. I live in Illinois, work in Iowa. My DH and I were high school sweethearts. We've been married for 11 1/2 years but dated all through high school. We have 3 wonderful kids. Tenley is 7 and was born on the one year anniversary of 9/11. Dylan will be 5 on 2/19 and Emerson just turned 4 on 1/5. Yep, if you do the math, our youngest two are 10 1/2 months apart. :noway: :blushing:

I battled anorexia in high school. I had a mother who was constantly trying this diet and that diet. Weight was a big deal in our house, or so I seemed. Add to that, I didn't have a lot of money for extra food or eating out with friends. So I would just not eat when we went out. It just turned into an ugly mental battle of being the skinny one.

When I got pregnant with Tenley I gained nearly 70 lbs. I love food. I'd finally had an excuse, reason to eat. I could be fat. I was pregnant. After having Tenley it took me almost 2 years to lose 55 of those 70lbs. That is when I got pregnant with Dylan. With Dylan I only gained 20lbs and I was able to lose most of it almost right away. Then the shocker came. We were pregnant with Emerson. What a joy she is to us, but there's no denying that I was shocked by being pregnant so soon. I gained another 25 pounds with her and only lost about 15 right away.

I never, ever put myself first. E-V-E-R. I was lonely, scared, tired, busy, an emotional wreck. Food was my outlet. Remember, I loved food.

In October of 2008 I read a post on some website, don't remember which site, but the poster mentioned MFP. I checked it out and was hooked. I read through some posts, and had my A-HA moment. By the little I read that day I discovered that it was okay for me to do this for me. It was okay for me to take time for me. I'm loving life. I feel great. I ran 4 5K races last year. The girl who couldn't finish a mile without puking.

I'm doing this for me first. I'm doing this for my kids second. I don't want my kids to go through what I did. I wasn't heavy, but I was far from healthy. I want my kids to have a good body image. I want them to know why we exercise, why we eat healthily. It's not about being skinny. It's about being healthy. Looking good in a two piece isn't a bad benefit. But the way I feel is priceless.

KATIE- You have a great attitude. Just awesome!

Marla64

Andrew-- love the 'do-- :laugh: :laugh:

ksproston

Beth - Are your sides constantly hurting? I laughed so hard at his story. Your house must always be filled with laughter!

Shuntae - That picture was priceless. Couldn't have placed it any better.

Elevators are the :devil:

Girlmom282109

Today was not a good day. Sugar got a hold of me. I had 1 hershey kiss and 1 cake bon bon. stopped there though. I felt so bad that I did a Wii cardio workout. 1 hour 20 minutes 450 calories burned. now I am off to bed. exhausted!!!

Night everyone!!

arewethereyet

Okay, I just found the coolest pic of me. It was taken last December at my starting weight in my underclothes. I can't believe the size of my stomach, it makes me realize I have came a long ways baby. Even though I am in my underwear when I get to my goal weight I am going to post that pic with a new pic in regular clothes. Embarassed I will be, but it symbolizes breaking free of my unhealthy life. Here is to a healthy life for us all!! :drinker:

we will figure out how to photoshop them so it looks like a bathing suit!!

arewethereyet

.

P.S. Do not try the "Tempured potato diet" described above. It's NO fun.

:grumble: :grumble: :sad: :sad: :sad: :grumble: :grumble:

OMG I laughed, I cried........I spit out my water. Andrew, you are better than a good chick flick !

I adore you (Beth I love you too:flowerforyou: )

I hope you heal up fast. I felt so guilty after I LOL then realized the utter pain you must feel. :sick:

arewethereyet

Today was not a good day. Sugar got a hold of me. I had 1 hershey kiss and 1 cake bon bon. stopped there though. I felt so bad that I did a Wii cardio workout. 1 hour 20 minutes 450 calories burned. now I am off to bed. exhausted!!!

Night everyone!!

Thats not too bad. At least you have it under control. I finally threw out the wedding cookies the neighbor so lovingly made for me. I notice she is a bit slim this year.....hmmmmm wonder if it was sabotage :laugh:

arewethereyet

Yeah, so in my long book I didn't put the before/after pics.


Spring/Summer 2002


December 31, 2009


P.S. No, my boyfriend does not have an old man looking 'fro with a huge forehead. The wall hanging behind him has a giant tree in it.

:laugh: I was SO thinking that LL needed to shave his head !! :laugh:

arewethereyet

OMG...that's too funny! Not that you are still in pain over it but because as you describe it...I can totally feel it happening. I'm one of the newbies and I have to ask a really stupid question that i've been wondering about for days now...but didn't want to ask. What is a "dh"....all I can think of is"designated hitter" (baseball speak) but I get the feeling that is not what it means here.

Dear Husband. You will also see DD dear daughter...or DS dear son.
MIL mother in law
BF best friend or BFF best friend forever.

Feel free to ask anytime. Or send a PM if you want!

Welcome. You can be our Designated hitter tonight!!

arewethereyet

Wonder how many caloires I burned responding to all the posts from today? Hopefully a lot, I had a 'heavy' dinner!

Thanks for the encouragement! I was so encouraged by everyone's post that it just inspired me to work out. I did end up exercising and was able to jog 3 miles and walk 1 mile on an incline under 1 hour. I burned close to 600 calories. I feel great!!! Go Black Team!
[/quote]

AWSOME!! That is what it is all about. I drank a ton of water and each sip I thought of this team! Even talked about you with my friends at work!!
Welcome!!!

arewethereyet

Zippy- Welcome! Hope you had a great day!!